Shattered Memories
by Knell13
Summary: Before you begin reading, know that this is an AU Gensokyo...so much that it should be it's own series, but it's not. None of the canon characters will be appearing here, nor any of the Canon events. Yukari may be included at some point, but that's about it. Anyways, I hope you enjoy. My comeback Fanfic: Shattered Memories -What you'll be reading below is Chapter 1-


"It seems you've come to understand a little about loss." A man's voice spoke quietly, hidden beneath the sound of cold rain hitting the dirt road and plant life around him. He wore a brown cloak which obscured most of his features, but his face was clearly visible. Two dull gray eyes, blinded by an injury long ago, pale as snow skin, and long scarlet hair, that reached down to his shoulders, it seemed like it had been cut with a dagger, unkempt and wild looking, making it seem like this man was not at all civilized.

He stood in the middle of what seemed like a war zone, corpses littering the ground, puddles of blood and trees that burned, every once in awhile making a sizzling sound as water droplets made contact with the heated inferno's. The sky was as dull as his eyes, featureless aside from the occasional flash of lightning followed by an intense crackle of thunder. Water poured down the man's face, whether it was from the rain that had soaked him to the core or from his own eyes, it was impossible to tell.

It was then, that something stirred in front of him, the silhouette of a small girl. She stood huddled under a tree, trembling in fear. She dared not move any more than she had, terrified that she would meet the same fate as those around her, the same fate as her entire village.

However, instead of killing the young girl, the man simply turned on his heel and began walking away, toward a dark lake in the distance. He stopped short, standing in the middle of a puddle as a small beam of moonlight illuminated his features. "You shall now share in my pain, perhaps you will even come to utilize it like I have. What I have bestowed upon you, is a fate far worse than ending your life right here. If I were you, I'd pray for death quickly." He spoke in a soft, but eerily cruel tone. "Pain is inevitable, but suffering from such pain..is optional." Were the last words he said before trudging off into the night, leaving the girl to decide her own fate.

It wasn't long after he had begun walking, that he heard the sound of tiny footsteps from somewhere behind him. "So, have you already decided?" The scarlet haired man said without even bothering to turn around. "If so, what is your answer?"

The girl from earlier stopped short only a few feet behind him, her breath coming and going in rapid intervals. "Take me with you! I have no one left, it doesn't matter now, I just don't want to be alone!"

In less than a second, the man had appeared in front of her, his right arm extended so that his palm was hovering right in front of the young girls face. "You discard your love for your family and friends, if only so you can survive? The answer you have chosen..." He grabbed her face. "Is the incorrect one." A charged energy blast flew forth from his palm, engulfing the girl and totally vaporizing her entire body, leaving nothing but a crater where she once stood. He turned around, a cold breeze slamming into him from the North, the rain had moved on and the moon now shown down brightly from above. "The correct answers were either die, or find the strength to make sure you never lose your loved ones again, no matter how you go about doing it." He said with a melancholic tone before heading out on his way again, unsure of his next destination.

He began humming an eerie tune as he walked, meandering on and off of the dirt road. Before long, a dense fog had descended to blanket the path, obscuring his form to any other travelers, so all they would hear would be his creepy song. "As fate descends upon us all, you have no choice but to run, but don't wait for your chance to die, just fight back and lie upon your back, remembering all the good times, all the sad times, and just laugh it off." He would sing, in a sharp contrast to his usual demeanor, the lyrics of this song were uplifting as he sung about better times in his life. It was on quiet nights like this that he would question what he was doing, to gain strength, to become reborn, were those goals really worth all the people he had killed? Then he'd shake off the feeling and reassure himself that the end justifies the means. Perhaps it was because no one had ever told him what he was doing was wrong, for no one had ever really been a match for him, there had been strong opponents, but they had attacked first, no one had ever shown genuine care for him, he was by himself, the entire world against him.

The fog began to clear shortly after Jeno had left the area, the morning sun's rays rising above the tree line. Several hundred feet away from Jeno, standing on a tree branch, was a silhouette of a man. His arms appeared to be placed firmly in his pockets, and if one looked hard enough, they could see a cigarette in his mouth. "Jeno Nakajima." The man would say to no one but himself. "You will soon fall to my hand."

-Elsewhere-

"Is that all you can do? Surely you're better than that!" Roared a males voice.

"Shut up! I would totally kick your ass if you let me hit you!" A female voice retorted.

"Well that just means you have to get better at hitting me!"

"Urah!" The girl yelled as she threw a punch at the man, only for him to turn into what seemed like light and materialize behind her.

The man began clapping his hands. "Alrighty! Let's take a brake shall we?" He said in a light tone. He wore a simple brown yukata with a black leather jacket draped over his shoulders that reached to his ankles with a pair of brown sandals as his shoes, his hair was a sharp purple being spiked upwards and kept short, his eyes a tranquil turquoise. His skin was a deep tan, like one who spent a lot of time in the sun. Finishing up his look was a 5'o clock shadow of a beard and moustache. He seemed rather intimidating.

The girl herself, who was on her back trying to catch her breath, had bright orange hair that was tied into twin tails, both of them reaching to her shoulder blades, her eyes also being a bright turquoise. Her attire consisted of a purple t-shirt and a pair of black baggy jeans, finishing up her clothing with purple combat boots. Her skin was the same shade as the other man's, showing that they both really spent a lot of time in the outdoors. "Ugh..You and your light manipulating abilities..It's so unfair!" She whined, kicking her legs up and down.

"How very un-lady like of you, you should really learn some manners." The man replied, even though he was sprawled out on the grass in a much undignified fashion while eating a piece of meat. "You call yourself a Fujimoto, and you can't even beat your own father in a duel. For shame." He said while lazily chewing, making his words come out a garbled mess.

"Shut it old man! It's not my fault my powers haven't manifested yet."

"What are you, 15? I unlocked my abilities when I was only 8, you're sooo slow."

"You're acting more like a spoiled brat than I am!"

"You just admitted to acting like a spoiled brat."

Her face turned a bright red before she leaped up off the ground and trudged off to a nearby cabin that was situated between two small hills. The area that they were training in was a vast field of grass, rolling on for as far as the eye can see. The sky was a brilliant azure, not a cloud in sight, and to top it off, it was a beautiful temperature, 70 degrees, low humidity and a moderate breeze flowing out from the east, simply sublime.

Standing up from his spot, the man sighed as he looked across the field. "These peaceful days won't last forever…I won't be able to be by her side for much longer, she's got to learn how to defend herself..after all..She has far more potential than she believes." He said in a melancholic tone before holding out his right hand in front of himself. "I have a feeling that time has begun to flow once more." Turning around so that he faced the cabin, he began walking toward it, and for what he felt would be the last time.


End file.
